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Green Island A46 Jamaica Co. England 1874 First list.
1/I?
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Thanks for the input Ari, but it is not a postal obliteration mark, that shows as the Birmingham (with date) on the stamp and card). This A461 would appear to be an Auxiliary marking.
If it were a postal cancellation then it could be 1 of 3 UK places; Linton A, Upper Hangar; Clachan, Scotland; Ballinhassig Ireland. None of these used a box cancel.
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Okay.
running it through gpt o3 for fun!
EDIT, GPT o3 Response, eh.
Response:
What that boxed “A 461” really is
It’s one of the British General Post Office “diamond census / inspector” hand-stamps that were struck on a sample of mail during the annual workload census.
Purpose. Once a year (the exercise ran roughly 1922 – mid-1980s) every office had to count the volume of mail it handled. Instead of cancel-dating the pieces, clerks passed them through a special cancelling machine fitted with a small diamond-shaped die. The die held a code:
the letter identifies the office or section,
the number identifies the individual counting clerk or the specific slot in the machine.
The mark told headquarters “this item has already been tallied – don’t count it again.” Linns Stamp News
Your card. “A 461” is simply the code for the clerk (or machine position) that did the count the day that Birmingham’s foreign-mail bundle was sampled. It has no postal-rate or censor function, and it adds curiosity but not monetary value.
Why it sits over the address panel. The census die replaced the normal dater in the machine, so it landed exactly where a postmark would have—neatly across the right-hand half of the card just above the 1 d King George V stamp.
-Ari 
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This is the problem with AI, the card is dated 1919, so the whole answer is totally incorrect, apart from the fact it is an oblong, not a diamond.
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Yes, it is not great for philately, I assume it made this up!
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This is a Dutch postman's mark with the number corresponding to his badge number.
The letter "A" here reflects a time of delivery.
There were various styles but this octagonal one had become standard by the time of this post card.
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Hi Nigel, that makes sense, thank you very much. I will pass on the information to our club member.
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I think the A461 marking on this postcard is an inspectors stamp, but can anyone confirm this or give any further information. The card belongs to another of my local stamp club members who queried what the marking meant.
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re: Postal marking from 1919
Green Island A46 Jamaica Co. England 1874 First list.
1/I?
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re: Postal marking from 1919
Thanks for the input Ari, but it is not a postal obliteration mark, that shows as the Birmingham (with date) on the stamp and card). This A461 would appear to be an Auxiliary marking.
If it were a postal cancellation then it could be 1 of 3 UK places; Linton A, Upper Hangar; Clachan, Scotland; Ballinhassig Ireland. None of these used a box cancel.
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Approvals
re: Postal marking from 1919
Okay.
running it through gpt o3 for fun!
EDIT, GPT o3 Response, eh.
Response:
What that boxed “A 461” really is
It’s one of the British General Post Office “diamond census / inspector” hand-stamps that were struck on a sample of mail during the annual workload census.
Purpose. Once a year (the exercise ran roughly 1922 – mid-1980s) every office had to count the volume of mail it handled. Instead of cancel-dating the pieces, clerks passed them through a special cancelling machine fitted with a small diamond-shaped die. The die held a code:
the letter identifies the office or section,
the number identifies the individual counting clerk or the specific slot in the machine.
The mark told headquarters “this item has already been tallied – don’t count it again.” Linns Stamp News
Your card. “A 461” is simply the code for the clerk (or machine position) that did the count the day that Birmingham’s foreign-mail bundle was sampled. It has no postal-rate or censor function, and it adds curiosity but not monetary value.
Why it sits over the address panel. The census die replaced the normal dater in the machine, so it landed exactly where a postmark would have—neatly across the right-hand half of the card just above the 1 d King George V stamp.
-Ari
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re: Postal marking from 1919
This is the problem with AI, the card is dated 1919, so the whole answer is totally incorrect, apart from the fact it is an oblong, not a diamond.
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this post
Approvals
re: Postal marking from 1919
Yes, it is not great for philately, I assume it made this up!
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this post
re: Postal marking from 1919
This is a Dutch postman's mark with the number corresponding to his badge number.
The letter "A" here reflects a time of delivery.
There were various styles but this octagonal one had become standard by the time of this post card.
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re: Postal marking from 1919
Hi Nigel, that makes sense, thank you very much. I will pass on the information to our club member.
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